John Rocovich sued Governor Abigail Spanberger this week. The Roanoke lawyer and rector of Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors — the governing board that hires the university’s president and sets its direction — wants a court to reverse a removal he says broke state law.

Spanberger removed him by a letter dated May 27, just 11 months into a four-year term, with no public explanation. State law lets a governor remove a board member only for “malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetence, or gross neglect of duty” — spelled out in a written public statement. She gave none.

His lawsuit does not mince words: “Governor Spanberger provided no such reasons. That is because none exist. She identified no instance of Rocovich’s alleged misconduct — because there is none.” He is asking a Montgomery County court to declare the removal void and put him back.

When a Republican Governor Named Board Members, Democrats Blocked 22 of Them. When a Democrat Wanted a Seat, She Removed the Rector.

Start with who got the seat. To replace Rocovich, Spanberger appointed Ed Baine, the president of Dominion Energy Virginia — the regulated utility now preparing to add $13 a month to its customers’ bills under the carbon program she signed Virginia back into.

A rector she did not appoint, out. The president of Dominion Energy, in.

Now run it the other direction. When Republican Glenn Youngkin was governor and tried to seat his own appointees on Virginia’s university boards, the Democrat-run state Senate refused to let them serve.

The Senate Privileges and Elections committee, chaired by Democrat Aaron Rouse, rejected 22 of Youngkin’s university board appointees — including 14 in a single August 2025 meeting:

• Six at George Mason University — Fairfax County’s own public university.
• Four at the University of Virginia.
• Four at the Virginia Military Institute.

An earlier casualty was former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, blocked over his politics — his position on abortion, his work on Project 2025, his record on LGBTQ issues. Youngkin called the exercise “blatant partisanship.”

A Board Hires the President and Sets the University’s Course. One Party Now Controls That Power.

Here is the argument, and it is ours to make. A board of visitors is not ceremonial. It hires the president, approves the budget, and sets what the institution stands for.

Control the board, and you shape what students encounter for a generation. That is why a majority that wants to endure fights this hard over seats most voters never think about.

Block one governor’s appointees. Remove another’s rector. Keep the gavel either way.

The record is not in dispute. The Senate blocked 22 of Youngkin’s appointees. Spanberger removed Rocovich with no stated cause. She installed the president of Dominion Energy. Her office says she is, in its words, “the sole judge.”

Spanberger cannot run again. But the Senate Democrats who blocked Youngkin’s picks — and who will wave through hers — are on the ballot in November 2027.

Watch which of them tells you a university board doesn’t matter. Then remember George Mason.